Seychelles scientist society in the offing |04 February 2023

Seychelles Nation

Following the Monaco Explorations expedition which took place in the Indian Ocean in October and November 2022, young Seychellois scientists are being called upon to form a community, and eventually a formal association.

A number of early-career scientists made up the Seychelles team to partake in the first and second leg of the mission, highlighting the urgent need for a local scientist society, fisheries scientist at the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) Annie Vidot pointed out recently.

As noted by Ms Vidot, a local society is still in the formation phase, and aims to promote citizen science, while also creating a culture of inclusion across all disciplines, institutions and generations, towards future collaborative research.

The vision of the society is based on strengthening stewardship and sustainability through collective decisions, with its mission being empowering professionals within the scientific research community through collaborative and co-designed research, professional development and impact networks.

Scientific societies are deeply embedded in Western culture, where these non-governmental organisations work selflessly to promote public understanding of science and to raise the status of scientific disciplines and professions.

Societies such as the Royal Society, an independent scientific academy of the United Kingdom (UK) are contributing towards the quality of research as vigorous publishers of scientific journals, and their views are highly regarded by the establishment.

Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy Jean-François Ferrari on Thursday remarked that there is an enormous amount of research to be conducted in the blue economy and maritime domains in the years to come.

The minister affirmed his support and that of his ministry towards the formation of the society, recalling the existence of a Young Scientist Society in Seychelles a few decades back.

“Young budding scientists, this is your time and your moment, so grab it and let us make this country proud of having a great group of scientists,” Minister Ferrari stated.

Similarly, Minister for Education Justin Valentin expressed confidence that there is a new generation of researchers who are coming up, and thanked the Monaco Explorations for “stimulating this new environment, and nurturing this new intellectual atmosphere”.

Laura Pillay